


The Games we Play

by LostinFic



Category: Doctor Who RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-24
Updated: 2014-06-24
Packaged: 2018-02-06 02:10:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1840483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostinFic/pseuds/LostinFic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Their first meeting at Julie's house which sets the tone for the future of their relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Games we Play

Being asked to be the Tenth Doctor is surreal, impossible even. In fact, he’s still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Maybe it will be tonight when Billie Piper inevitably finds him insufferable. It’s an audition disguised as an invitation to dinner. Julie wants to see how they’ll get along. There’s absolutely no reason to believe this will end up in disaster but he believes it anyway. That’s just how his mind works, always anticipating the worst. What he doesn’t anticipate is that he’ll fall arse over elbow for her.

 

She’s already there when he arrives at Julie’s house. In fact, she’s the one who greets him as Julie is busy stirring the sauce. She welcomes him with a bright smile and a warm hug that catches him off-guard. She takes his coat and he just stands there, staring at her, trying to think of something clever to say.

“Are you going to stay in the doorway all night?” she asks, her voice is softer than her character’s.

“Yeah I like it here. This wallpaper, it’s really…”

“You should see the one in the living room.”

“Does it have flowers too?”

“No, it’s damask,” she replies, faking disappointment.

He pretends to consider his options, stroking his chin, and she laughs.

“You know I’m more of a traditional kind of bloke but tonight I think I’m going to risk it, really step out of my comfort zone.”

“I love a man who lives dangerously.”

She laughs again and guides him towards the living room with a hand on the back of his shoulder. She sits down right next to him on the brown couch and picks the two glasses of chilled Chardonnay from the coffee table, giving one to David.

“Cheers.”

“Cheers.”

 

Even though their banter in the doorway helped him relax, he’s still nervous. His whole body is tensed and twitching. He tries to think of pertinent questions to ask Billie but his mind only draws a blank. When Julie joins them, he’s relieved. But then the small talk begins. He hates small talk. It’s always so forced. He’s rubbish at it. He ends up agreeing with things he normally wouldn’t. It’s not that he hates Tony Blair he just doesn’t agree with sending troops to Iraq but they’ve already moved on to talking about the weather. And there he goes chipping in about what kind of summer he reckons they will have and complaining about the smog. When they finally start talking about Doctor Who there are so many mentions of Christopher Eccleston that he’s convinced they will tell him the actor has decided to stay for a second series. Moreover, he feels scrutinized by both women. Every once in a while Billie smirks, but he wants her to smile. A real smile like earlier. He wants her to like him and not just because his future may depend on it.

 

He’s so wired up, he jumps when the kitchen timer goes ding. Julie leaves the room and he reclines in his seat with a sigh.

“Do you feel like you’re on a blind date?” Billie asks, slouching down like him.

“Now that you mention it, I suppose it’s a bit like that, yeah.”

They grow silent and his heart rate finally decreases.

“I like your t-shirt,” she says after a while.

David looks down at the four teenage mutant ninja turtles on the front of it. Not his greatest wardrobe decision. He can’t tell if she’s serious or mocking him.

“I used to have a turtle,” she says, “I killed it.”

David throws his head back, laughing. She’s so candid, it’s lovely.

“You killed it!”

“Not on purpose!” she replies in a high-pitched voice.

She goes on to explain how she thought it would prefer chocolate to the food it was usually given. Then how she’d lied to her parents about it and David keeps on laughing until she’s hiding her face in her hands.

“What was it called?”

“Luigi,” she answers while cleaning her glasses of fingerprints with her tank top.

“I had a cat called Mario, he had like a mustache,” David says to keep the conversation going.

He puts his finger between his nose and upper lip and she imitates him. And just like that they start talking like old friends about pets and childhood mistakes. They sit sideways, facing each other, and every once in a while she touches his knee. He likes the way she twirls a strand of hair around her index and how her tongue peaks out when she teases him. After a while, he realizes that Julie is probably standing in her kitchen, eavesdropping on their conversation and patting herself on the back.

______________________________

After dinner, Billie steps outside for a cigarette and when Julie receives a call from her sister, David goes out as well.

She’s wearing a pair of baggy jeans which, despite her belt, have slid down low on her hips, exposing a ribbon of skin every time she brings the cigarette to her lips.

He sits down on the steps between the patio door and the terrace. He looks up at her silhouette and the pattern of the smoke she exhales in the night air.

“So, er, do you reckon it’ll work out, you and I? Working together I mean?” she asks without turning towards him.

Only the fact that she bites her thumbnail betrays her insecurity. He wants to take her hand and reassure her, maybe even hug her. But he doesn’t, he’s just met her.

“I’d have to be a particular kind of cretin not to like you,” he replies.

She smiles and bites her lower lip. She sits down right next to him on the concrete step.

“And you?” he asks.

“I think it’ll be brilliant.” And she puts her head on his shoulder. “Do you want to get out of here?”

Her question takes him by surprise but he agrees immediately.

 ______________________________

They lie. They skip dessert. She fakes a headache and he leaves ten minutes later. Tightening his coat around him against the chilly air, he walks toward the pub where they agreed to meet. There are butterflies in his stomach. The good kind. There had been no reason to lie to Julie, really, but it adds to the excitement. He isn’t sure what to make of this feeling.

She waves at him from the back of the smoke-filled room. She’s already ordered two pints of cream ale. They start slowly, discussing drama schools and working with Russell and the latest season of The Office.

Then she suggests they _really_ get to know each other. She says it with a low, sultry voice, her eyes sparkling with mischief. He realizes two things: 1) she’s the sexiest woman he’s ever met and 2) he will never be able to say no to her.

“What do you suggest?” he asks, leaning towards her on the sticky table, trying to replicate her tone.

“Wait here.”

She walks to the bar. The baggy jeans don’t do much for her arse but the sway of her hips and the exposed midriff skin are enticing enough as it is.  She comes back with two glasses of brown liquor. She sits down and clears her throat exaggeratedly.

“Never have I ever… stolen props from a set,” she begins.

David laughs, the game reminding him of parties in his teenage years. He takes a swig from his glass.

 

They start off with innocent question but it quickly turns to more exciting topics. It is one way to get to know a co-worker. Who cares about someone’s favorite band when you can learn he’s injured himself during intercourse (“The standing wheel barrow is _not_ for beginners no matter what ‘The Kama Sutra for dummies says’.”).  He shouldn’t be surprised the game has taken this direction although the alcohol is not the only thing to blame. Billie doesn’t let him get away with boring questions or evasive explanations, nudging him and fluttering her eyelashes.  

 

“Never have I ever kissed someone of the same sex… off screen that is,” David says.

She takes a swig from her second glass of rum, emptying it.

“I want to hear all about that,” he says, leaning towards her and he wishes there wasn’t a table between them.

“Let’s see, her name was Sarah, it was at her fifteenth birthday party…”

She licks her lips, it’s not meant to be sexy but it is, just like her leg touching his or the way she tells the anecdote. It’s a bit confusing, really, considering her situation. He should tread carefully except his head is buzzing and she’s smiling and now he’s touching her arm.

 

She doesn’t know what she’s doing. He’s not even her type, all sharp angles and gangly limbs but he gave her that smile and he says things like “cretin”. In her career, she’s met a lot of people, good and bad. Some who were loyal friends, some who used her and, in between, those who were on her side for as long as it was convenient. So she’s gotten pretty good at sizing people up. David Tennant doesn’t have a bad bone in his body, she’s certain of it. She wants them to be best mates right now, share inside jokes and hold on to each other through the madness that is Doctor Who. He doesn’t know it yet but they need to be able to count on each other. The thing is, she doesn’t really know how to do friendship with men, flirting is her default mode with them, but tonight she’s exceeding herself. It’s just so easy to make him blush and then he retaliates with an embarrassing question and a seductive smirk. That’s not how she’d thought this night would go.

 

With their glasses now empty, David gets up, his wooden chair scraping against the floor tiles, and heads for the bar. He comes back with two more glasses of Sailor Jerry. He hesitates by the table, then sits down beside her instead of in front like he was earlier. He says something about having difficulty hearing her because of the loud crowd.

“It’s your turn.”

“Right, never have I ever…” While she’s thinking, he extends an arm behind her on the back of the chair and she can’t help leaning against it to initiate physical contact. He’s looking at her expectantly. “Never have I ever fancied a co-star.”

She knows he’s dating one right now, he said so earlier. But she needs something, just a hint. David hesitates, his eyes searching her face.

“Past or future co-star?” he asks tentatively.

Admittedly, his question doesn’t make much sense but he holds her gaze and her heart skips a beat nevertheless.

“Sorry, that was stupid,” he says, eyes sliding away, focusing on the liquor swirling in his glass.

“Future,” she says quickly.

He drinks. One big gulp. He doesn’t look at her.

“Never have I ever thought of kissing a co-star,” he says.

She drinks. Her heart starts drumming in her chest. He scoots closer and moves his hand from the back of the chair to her shoulder. His palm his sweaty and he licks his lips.

“Truth or dare?” he asks.

“Dare.”

He inches closer, tilting his head, until there’s but an inch between them.

“Kiss me.”

Her eyes drop to his lips as she licks her own. She’s vaguely aware that this is a bad idea but the energy coursing through her veins tells her otherwise. When she finally moves forward, he backs away. She hesitated for too long.

“Sorry, that was inappropriate.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I should go.”

He stands up rapidly, almost knocking off his chair.

“Don’t.” She catches his arm.

There’s a whole conversation to be had but not right now. She stands up as well, puts a hand behind his head and presses her mouth to his. He goes rigid for a second but quickly recovers. He encircles her waist, pulling her to him. He tastes of spicy rum and his hair is soft and she should stop right now. But she indulges in his excellent kissing technique and the way his fingers dig in her flesh just a little longer. She’s dimly aware of drunks yelling obscenities at them but the heat growing between them is too overwhelming for her to care. When his tongue caresses her lips she knows it’s time to break the kiss. She laughs at his messed up hair and flustered face although she must look much the same.

“That was…”

“That was a one time thing,” she clarifies even though she’s highly aware that it wouldn’t take much to convince her otherwise.

“Yeah, of course.”


End file.
